Hilda Vaughn

Hilda Vaughn (December 27, 1898 – December 28, 1957) was an American actress of the stage, film, radio, and television.[1][2][3][4]

For the Welsh novelist, see Hilda Vaughan.
Hilda Vaughn
BornDecember 27, 1898
Baltimore, Maryland
DiedDecember 28, 1957 (aged 59)
Baltimore, Maryland
OccupationActress
Years active1929-1940
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Spouse(s)Charles Morgan
Parent(s)Mr. and Mrs. Eli Strouse

Early years

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Strouse, Vaughn attended Vassar College and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[5]

Career

Vaughn frequently played a "pleb", or a commoner, in the films she acted in (waitresses, maids, charwomen, governesses, and saleswomen). However, according to biographer Guy Bellinger, "the characters she embodied did not lack ... character!"[6] A fixture at MGM in the sound era of the early 1930s, she acted in more than 50 films. Her most notable films were 1933's Dinner at Eight where she was memorable as Jean Harlow's blackmailing maid, as well as Today We Live (1933), Chasing Yesterday (1935), and Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940).[7]

She appeared on Broadway, and in 1924 toured as the lead in Rain based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. Her "smoldering quality" came back to Broadway two years later in The Seed of the Brute at the Little Theatre. She also appeared on Broadway in Glory Hallelujah.[8]

After making several films, Vaughn was part of the Hollywood blacklist. She returned to the stage in 1942 to play the lead in Only the Heart at the American Actors Company. In 1943 she appeared in William Saroyan's Get Away Old Man, followed by several other appearances, including playing the nurse to Judith Anderson's Medea and the mother in The Devil's Disciple by George Bernard Shaw. She was also known for her concert readings of plays.

Death

On December 28, 1957, one day after her 59th birthday, Vaughn died in Baltimore.[9]

Filmography

References
  1. "Film History of the 1940s". filmsite.org. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19.
  2. Eckstein, Arthur. “The Hollywood Ten in History and in Memory”. Film History 16, no. 4 (December 2004): 424-436. Communication and Mass Media complete, EBSCOhost; accessed March 28, 2015.
  3. "American Masters". Archived from the original on 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  4. "New York Times Movies". Archived from the original on 2013-10-08 – via NYTimes.com.
  5. Leith, Elizabeth (November 10, 1943). "Miss Vaughn Again Acts For Theatergoers Here". The Evening Sun. Maryland, Baltimore. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Bellinger, Guy. "Hilda Vaughn Biography". www.IMBD.com. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  7. Wollstein, Hans J. "Biography by Hans J. Wollstein". www.allmovie.com. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  8. "Hilda Vaughn, Actress, Is Dead at 60; Last Appeared Here in 'The River Line'". New York Times. 1957-12-30. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  9. "Hilda Vaughn, Ex-Actress, Dies". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. Associated Press. December 30, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved 25 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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